Diogo Freitas do Amaral

Diogo Pinto de Freitas do Amaral (Portuguese pronunciation: [diˈoɣu ˈfɾɐjtɐʒ ðu ɐmɐˈɾal]; 21 July 1941 – 3 October 2019) was a Portuguese politician and law professor. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 10 January 1980 to 12 January 1981 and from 12 March 2005 to 3 July 2006. He also served briefly as Prime Minister in an interim capacity in the early 1980s, after the death of Francisco de Sá Carneiro.

Diogo Freitas do Amaral
Freitas do Amaral in 2005
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
12 March 2005 – 3 July 2006
Prime MinisterJosé Sócrates
Preceded byAntónio Monteiro
Succeeded byLuís Amado
In office
10 January 1980 – 12 January 1981
Prime MinisterFrancisco de Sá Carneiro
Preceded byJoão Cardoso
Succeeded byAndré Gonçalves Pereira
President of the Democratic Social Centre
In office
31 January 1988 – 22 March 1992
Vice PresidentBasílio Horta
João Morais Leitão
José Luís Nogueira de Brito
Luís Beiroco
Preceded byAdriano Moreira
Succeeded byManuel Monteiro
In office
26 January 1975 – 20 February 1983
Vice PresidentAdelino Amaro da Costa
Basílio Horta
Francisco Lucas Pires
Vítor de Sá Machado
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byFrancisco Lucas Pires
Deputy Prime Minister of Portugal
In office
4 September 1981 – 9 June 1983
Prime MinisterFrancisco Pinto Balsemão
Preceded byOffice vacant
Succeeded byCarlos Mota Pinto
In office
3 January 1980 – 9 January 1981
Prime MinisterFrancisco de Sá Carneiro
Preceded byManuel Jacinto Nunes
Succeeded byOffice vacant
Minister of National Defence
In office
4 September 1981 – 9 June 1983
Prime MinisterFrancisco Pinto Balsemão
Preceded byLuís de Azevedo Coutinho
Succeeded byCarlos Mota Pinto
Prime Minister of Portugal
Acting
4 December 1980 – 9 January 1981
PresidentAntónio Ramalho Eanes
Preceded byFrancisco de Sá Carneiro
Succeeded byFrancisco Pinto Balsemão
Personal details
Born(1941-07-21)21 July 1941
Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal
Died3 October 2019(2019-10-03) (aged 78)
Cascais, Portugal
Political partyIndependent (1992–2019)
Other political
affiliations
CDS–PP (1974–1992)
Spouse
Maria José Salgado Sarmento de Matos
(m. 1965)
Children4
Signature

Background

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He was born in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal, the third but first surviving son of Duarte de Freitas do Amaral and wife Maria Filomena de Campos Trocado, and the older brother of João de Freitas do Amaral.

Career

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He was a Licentiate and a Doctorate in Law specialised in Administrative Law and Political Science from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, and a Cathedratic Professor in the Faculty of Law at the New University of Lisbon and also a publicist.

He served as a professor in the Faculty of Law of the Lusófona University of Lisbon, where he taught and governed as the chair of the Economics of Public Law in Law degree, developing other teaching activities in the same college. In 1974, some months after the Carnation Revolution, he was one of the Founders and President of then Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), a Christian democratic party. He led this party till 1985, and again from 1988 to 1991. He served as a Deputy to the Assembly of the Republic (the Portuguese parliament) from 1975 to 1982 or 1983, and again in 1992 and 1993.

He was also a Member of the Portuguese Council of State (1974–1982).

In the parliamentary elections of 1979 and 1980, the Democratic Alliance (of which the CDS was a part) won a majority and formed the government, in which Freitas served as Deputy Prime Minister or Vice-Prime-Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1980 and Deputy Prime Minister or Vice-Prime-Minister and Minister of Defence between 1981 and 1983. After the death of Francisco Sá Carneiro, Freitas do Amaral was interim Prime Minister for a short period between 1980 and 1981. Between 1981 and 1982 he was also the President of the European People's Party.

He was a candidate in 1985 for the presidency in the 1986 presidential election. Supported by his own People's Party and by the Social Democratic Party, he established a commanding lead in the first round, but lost the second round by some 150,000 votes to Mário Soares, who was endorsed by the two eliminated candidates.

He was President of the United Nations General Assembly (1995–1996).

A European federalist, he left the party he founded, disagreeing mainly with the Eurosceptic line followed by Manuel Monteiro and Paulo Portas.

Always seen as a right-winger, Freitas do Amaral supported the Social Democratic Party in the parliamentary election of 2002. However, disappointed with the government performance, and critical of its support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Freitas do Amaral surprised many observers by announcing his support for the Socialist Party in the 2005 election. He was subsequently nominated for Minister of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the XVII Constitutional Government, led by the Socialist leader José Sócrates. He resigned after a little over one year in office, citing health reasons and, as revealed to a newspaper, tiredness resulting from the many diplomatic trips taken.

He was also a Juridical Consultant of many companies.

He authored a biography of King Afonso I and a play about Viriatus.

He also published a study of the actuality and reform of the prison system in Portugal.

Honours

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Foreign

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Personal life

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He married in Sintra, Santa Maria, on 31 July 1965 Maria José Salgado Sarmento de Matos, born in Lisbon on 13 October 1943, writer under the pseudonym Maria Roma, daughter of José Sarmento Osório de Vasconcelos de Matos (Moimenta da Beira, 28 July 1909 – Sintra, 17 July 1992). They had four children.

In September 2019, Freitas do Amaral was hospitalized in critical condition at a Cascais hospital.[2] On 3 October 2019, it was announced that Freitas do Amaral had died.[3]

Electoral history

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Constituent Assembly, 1975

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Ballot: 25 April 1975
Party Candidate Votes % Seats
PS Mário Soares 2,162,972 37.9 116
PPD Francisco Sá Carneiro 1,507,282 26.4 81
PCP Álvaro Cunhal 711,935 12.5 30
CDS Diogo Freitas do Amaral 434,879 7.6 16
MDP/CDE Francisco Pereira de Moura 236,318 4.1 5
FSP Manuel Serra 66,307 1.2 0
MES Afonso de Barros 58,248 1.0 0
Other parties 137,213 2.4 2
Blank/Invalid ballots 396,675 7.0
Turnout 5,711,829 91.66 250
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[4]

Legislative election, 1976

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Ballot: 25 April 1976
Party Candidate Votes % Seats +/−
PS Mário Soares 1,912,921 34.9 107 –9
PPD Francisco Sá Carneiro 1,335,381 24.4 73 –8
CDS Diogo Freitas do Amaral 876,007 16.0 42 +26
PCP Álvaro Cunhal 788,830 14.4 40 +10
UDP Mário Tomé 91,690 1.7 1 ±0
Other parties 220,936 4.0 0 ±0
Blank/Invalid ballots 257,696 2.7
Turnout 5,483,461 83.53 263 +13
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[5]

Presidential election, 1986

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Ballot: 26 January and 16 February 1986
Candidate First round Second round
Votes % Votes %
Mário Soares 1,443,683 25.4 3,010,756 51.2
Diogo Freitas do Amaral 2,629,597 46.3 2,872,064 48.8
Francisco Salgado Zenha 1,185,867 20.9
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo 418,961 7.4
Blank/Invalid ballots 64,626 54,280
Turnout 5,742,734 75.39 5,937,100 77.99
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[6][7]

CDS leadership election, 1988

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Ballot: 31 January 1988
Candidate Votes %
Diogo Freitas do Amaral Voice vote
Turnout 100.0
Source: Congress 1988[8]

Legislative election, 1991

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Ballot: 6 October 1991
Party Candidate Votes % Seats +/−
PSD Aníbal Cavaco Silva 2,902,351 50.6 135 –13
PS Jorge Sampaio 1,670,758 29.1 72 +12
CDU Álvaro Cunhal 504,583 8.8 17 –14
CDS Diogo Freitas do Amaral 254,317 4.4 5 +1
PSN Manuel Sérgio 96,096 1.6 1 new
PSR Francisco Louçã 64,159 1.1 0 ±0
Other parties 132,495 2.3 0 –7
Blank/Invalid ballots 110,672 1.9
Turnout 5,735,431 67.78 230 –20
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[9]

Ancestors

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Books

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  • D. Afonso Henriques biografia. Lisboa: Bertrand, 2009.
  • Camarate: um caso ainda em aberto : apelo de um cidadão. Lisboa: Bertrand, 2010. ISBN 9789722522434
  • História do Pensamento Político Ocidental. Coimbra: Almedina, 2011. ISBN 978-972-40-4645-7

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Cidadãos Nacionais Agraciados com Ordens". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  2. ^ "Freitas do Amaral internado nos cuidados intermédios". Publico.pt. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  3. ^ Hatton, Barry (3 October 2019). "Freitas do Amaral, a 'father' of Portuguese democracy, dies". Associated Press. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  4. ^ "Resultados AC 1975" (PDF). Comissão Nacional de Eleições. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Resultados AR 1976" (PDF). Comissão Nacional de Eleições. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Resultados PR 1986 Primeira Volta" (PDF). Comissão Nacional de Eleições. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Resultados PR 1986 Segunda Volta" (PDF). Comissão Nacional de Eleições. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Diogo Freitas do Amaral. "Vivi e agi à minha maneira"", Diário de Notícias, 4 October 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Resultados AR 1991" (PDF). Comissão Nacional de Eleições. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  • Anuário da Nobreza de Portugal, III, 2006, Tomo IV, pp. 862–873
  • Costados, Gonçalo de Mesquita da Silveira de Vasconcelos e Sousa, Livraria Esquina, 1.ª Edição, Porto, 1997, N.º 55
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by President of the United Nations General Assembly
15 September 1995 – 14 September 1996
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Affairs
1980–1981
Succeeded by
Preceded by Acting Prime Minister of Portugal
1980–1981
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Affairs
2005–2006
Succeeded by